VA Del. Richard Anderson, Steve Kastenbaum in Rio, Amanda Carpenter, Fairfax County Dept of Tax Administration’s Juan Rengel and Jake Tapper joined WMAL on Thursday!

Mornings on the Mall

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Michelle Obama Got Aly Raisman to Clarify Her Stance on Junk Food.The Final Five gymnasts — made up of the unstoppable quintet of Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian — are riding high on their Olympic wins. So they took to Twitter for a question-and-answer session on Wednesday, responding to the #AskFinalFive hashtag. Some pretty big names got in on the action (no surprise there; the athletes have been the toast of the town for well over a week now). Check out the questions submitted by everyone from First Lady Michelle Obama to actress Reese Witherspoon and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson — and, of course, their new best friend and mutual crush Zac Efron. (So far, Biles and Raisman have made it a priority to reply to Efron and FLOTUS, naturally, but we’re waiting to hear the rest of their responses.)

Aly Raisman asked Michelle Obama to ignore pics of her and Simone Biles eating McDonald’s. The U.S. women’s gymnastics team, also known as the Final Five, is doing a Twitter Q and A. Michelle Obama, who is known for her healthy eating and get active initiatives during her times as the first lady, asked about what the gymnasts like to eat. Alexandra Raisman @Aly_Raisman: Salmon, avocado, whole wheat bread, almonds, pineapples & Greek yogurt 😊👌🏻🇺🇸 https://twitter.com/flotus/status/765969194097733632

But just wanting to covering her bases with the first lady, Raisman added: Alexandra Raisman @Aly_Raisman: .@FLOTUS Ignore our recent tweet about eating fries & ice cream. Sometimes u gotta splurge. Moderation, right?😂🙈🙈😂 https://twitter.com/flotus/status/765969194097733632 … 3:33 PM – 17 Aug 2016

5am – D         Poll: Most Trump supporters in Texas back secession if Clinton wins.More than 3 in 5 of Donald Trump’s supporters in Texas say they would back secession if Hillary Clinton becomes president, according to a new poll. Sixty-one percent of Texans backing Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, want out of the U.S. if Clinton, the Democratic nominee, wins, according to the Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released Tuesday. Twenty-nine percent of Trump’s supporters in Texas, meanwhile, favor their state staying in the union, even if the billionaire loses this November. Among Trump supporters, 37 percent support Texas secession, while 49 percent oppose. Overall, Tuesday’s results also found that 26 percent of voters in Texas would back the Lone Star State’s independence. Fifty-nine percent want to stay in the U.S., with 15 percent unsure.

5am – E         Naval Academy announces death of goat mascot, Bill 35. ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The U.S. Naval Academy has announced the death of its goat mascot, Bill 35. The academy said Wednesday that the Angora goat had a history of medical problems, which manifested soon after the school acquired him last year.  The school says the 2-and-a-half-year-old goat suffered from idiopathic edema and related disorders, which appeared to have been caused by chronic kidney weakness. The academy says the goat was taken on Tuesday to a veterinary facility in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, for treatment and was euthanized. Navy has three other goats, including Bill 36, who is the brother of Bill 35. He will become the new mascot.

6am – A/B/C Brady Bunch’ star Eve Plumb sells Malibu home she bought at 11-years-old.  “Here’s a story of a lovely lady” named Jan Brady who’s quite a real estate mogul these days. The days of “The Brady Bunch” might have come and gone, but Eve Plumb who played Jan Brady in the hit show is still riding the wave of her early fame. The actress turned painter recently sold her home in Malibu for $3.9 million.  The 58-year-old purchased the beach house back in 1969, the first year of her role as Jan Brady, for $55,300, reports the Los Angeles Times. She was just 11-years-old. Talk about being wise beyond her years!  The bungalow style home, which is located on one of Malibu’s picturesque beaches, includes three bedrooms and 1.75 bathrooms. The home was listed by Brian Linder and William Baker of Deasy/Penner & Partners.

6am – D/E     Judge orders two swimmers to remain in Rio, but Ryan Lochte is already home. (USA Today) — RIO DE JANEIRO — A Brazilian judge ordered two U.S. swimmers not to leave the country, according to court documents obtained Wednesday. Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen were ordered to stay in Rio three days after they said they were robbed at gunpoint. Attorney Jeff Ostrow told USA TODAY Sports that Lochte was already back in the United States as of Tuesday afternoon. Two other swimmers, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who were with Lochte and Feigen during the alleged robbery, were removed from their flight late Wednesday night as they tried to depart for the United States, according to a statement from U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky.

7am – A         INTERVIEW — VIRGINIA DELEGATE RICHARD ANDERSON – Delegate, 51st House District (Prince William County)

• Del. Anderson wants to discuss the latest on the issue of the military deployment of U.S. Naval Reserve Commander Gil Trenum who also represents the Brentsville Magisterial District on the Prince William County School Board. Trenum will be deployed this month.
• On June 15, during a school board meeting Trenum announced that he had been called back to active duty to serve a year-long tour in Djibouti, Africa as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. After that meeting, the Brentsville representative sent the names of three individuals who he felt would adequately serve as his temporary replacement to school board clerk Deborah Urban on June 25 in an email.
• The replacement would attend meetings in Trenum’s stead, but would not be the official representative. Trenum said he would still be available during his deployment by email.
• However, before Trenum announced his replacement picks, PWC School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers asked Don Shaw, a Democrat, to serve as the Brentsville representative. Shaw withdraw his name from consideration on July 8. Trenum is a Republican.
• Even so, the school board has not decided whether to appoint a replacement, much less one of Trenum’s choices.

7am – B/C     INTERVIEW – STEVE KASTENBAUM IN RIO

• American Swimmers Pulled Off Flight in Rio. Two American swimmers were pulled off their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities, Olympic officials said Wednesday night, the latest indication that the police are skeptical of the swimmers’ claims that they were held up at gunpoint during the Rio Games. “We can confirm that Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were removed from their flight to the United States by Brazilian authorities,” a spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee said. “We are gathering further information.” Earlier, a Brazilian judge issued an order to prevent Ryan Lochte and James Feigen, the other two American swimmers involved in the case, from leaving the country as doubts emerged over their testimony about the episode.

7am – D         INTERVIEW — AMANDA CARPENTER – Contributing Editor at Conservative Review, former Communications Director to Sen. Ted Cruz, and former Speechwriter to Sen. Jim DeMint. She is also a CNN contributor

• Trump campaign leadership shakeup

7am – E         Clinton News:

• Clinton Foundation hired cyber firm after suspected hacking: sources. Bill and Hillary Clinton’s charitable foundation hired the security firm FireEye to examine its data systems after seeing indications they might have been hacked, according to two sources familiar with the matter. So far, no message or document hacked from the New York-based Clinton Foundation has surfaced in public, the sources said. One of the sources and two U.S. security officials said that like hackers who targeted the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democrats’ congressional fundraising committee, the hackers appear to have used “spear phishing” techniques to gain access to the foundation’s network. These techniques include creating bogus emails or websites in an effort to gain access to Clinton Foundation staffers’ emails and then to the foundation itself.
• Boston Globe Calls For Hillary To Shut Down Clinton Foundation. (Daily Caller) —  The Boston Globe has called for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to immediately cut donations to the Clinton Foundation, and then shut down the non-profit if she becomes president. “Although the charity founded by former President Bill Clinton has done admirable work over the last 15 years, the Clinton Foundation is also now clearly a liability for Hillary Clinton as she seeks the presidency in 2016,” the editorial board argued Tuesday. “The once-and-maybe-future first family will have plenty to keep them busy next year if Hillary Clinton defeats Donald Trump in November. The foundation should remove a political — and actual — distraction and stop accepting funding. If Clinton is elected, the foundation should be shut down.” Clinton continued her work at the Clinton Foundation while serving as secretary of state in the Obama administration. Released emails seem to indicate she wasn’t able to keep her roles adequately separate.
• Feminist website: @BillClinton may have raped Juanita Broaddrick, but that doesn’t mean he’s “evil” (The Blaze) — The feminist website Wonkette published a piece Monday in which the writer acknowledges that Bill Clinton “could very well have raped” Juanita Broaddrick — but added that it doesn’t make the former president “evil.” In an article bearing the headline “Let’s Talk About Juanita Broaddrick,” writer Rebecca Schoenkopf addresses Broadrick’s allegation that Clinton raped her in an Arkansas hotel room 40 years ago. She acknowledges the “contemporaneous evidence,” including some of Broaddrick’s friends claiming to have seen her crying and with bruised lips not long after the alleged incident occurred. While Schoenkopf doesn’t buy the allegation that Clinton’s wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, knew about or tried to keep Broaddrick quiet about the alleged rape, she does give some credence to the accusation against the former president. “To sum up, I think Bill Clinton could very well have raped Juanita Broaddrick,” Schoenkopf wrote, “that it doesn’t make him an evil man, or irredeemable.”
• Tim Kaine admits he wanted Bill to resign. (NY Post) — Sen. Tim Kaine may be on Team Clinton now, but he once said that Bill Clinton should resign after his White House affair with Monica Lewinsky. A report first published by the Daily Beast on Wednesday said the Democratic vice presidential nominee was responding to a separate scandal, involving then-Virginia state congressman Vance Wilkins, when he reflected on Clinton’s affair. Kaine called for Wilkins to resign and told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2002 that he still maintained that Clinton should have stepped down in 1998 amid the Lewinsky controversy. “20 years ago I was disappointed like a lot of folks were, but I tell ya there is no reason to re-litigate problems of 20 years ago when Americans want to talk about is what do we do today and tomorrow, and so as I’m campaigning all across the country people are saying what do we do to get an economy growing again with prosperity that’s shared, how do we make sure we are strong in the nation we’re strong alliances in the world, how do we make sure we build up a community of respect? So past controversies aren’t really important to the voters they want to know what we are going to do tomorrow,” he said.
  

8am – A/B/C INTERVIEW –  JUAN RENGEL – Director of the Personal Property & Business License Division of the FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF TAX ADMINISTRATION

• Fairfax County wants residents to turn in car tax evaders among neighbors
• Fairfax County asks for residents’ help in IDing car tax evaders. Fairfax County is missing out on about $2 million in payments from residents who try and skip out on paying annual car taxes. That’s why the county is calling attention to its “Target Program” for residents to alert county officials to possible evaders, mostly residents who move here from other states and fail to register their cars locally.

8am – D         INTERVIEW — JAKE TAPPER — Anchor of The Lead and State of the Union on CNN

• Thoughts on the Trump campaign shakeup / Jake Tapper ‏@jaketapper 14h14 hours ago / Who is Breitbart ‘street fighter’ now running Trump campaign?  @brianstelter reports
• Boston Globe Calls For Hillary To Shut Down Clinton Foundation. The Boston Globe has called for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to immediately cut donations to the Clinton Foundation, and then shut down the non-profit if she becomes president.
• Jake Tapper ‏@jaketapper 6m6 minutes ago: Louisiana newspaper to Obama: Cut your vacation short
• Jake Tapper gives astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson a fresh perspective on Earth

8am – E         McDonald’s removes fitness tracker from Happy Meals. (CNN) McDonald’s is removing Step-It activity trackers from Happy Meals due to concerns over skin irritations, according to a statement sent to CNN on Wednesday. “We have taken this swift and voluntary step after receiving limited reports of potential skin irritations that may be associated from wearing the band,” company spokeswoman Terri Hickey said in the statement. “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and we are fully investigating this issue.” The exact number of reports was not specified.  Casey Collyar of Arkansas, wrote on Facebook last week that her child was burned by the Happy Meal toy after playing with it for eight minutes. Her post was shared more than 100,000 times. The fitness trackers, which come in six bright colors, were already being distributed and were set to be available for four weeks in the United States and Canada. The plastic wrist-worn pedometer measures steps and blinks quickly or slowly depending on the pace of the person wearing it. In a promotional video for the gadget, two girls are trying out several different physical activities to increase the number of their step counts.